.NET CLI Tab Completion

Enable tab autocomplete for the dotnet CLI in your preferred shell.

Steps

1. •

   Determine .NET version (CRITICAL - commands differ by version)

   bash

   dotnet sdk check
   

   • •Parse output to identify installed SDK versions
   • •.NET 10+: Uses dotnet completions script <shell> (native completions)
   • •Pre-.NET 10: Uses dotnet complete --position (dynamic completions)
2. •

   Ask user which shells they use, allowing multi-select:

   • •PowerShell
   • •bash
   • •zsh
   • •fish
   • •nushell

For each user shell:

1. •

   Detect profile file location based on shell:

   Shell	Profile Path
   PowerShell	$PROFILE
   bash	~/.bashrc
   zsh	~/.zshrc
   fish	~/.config/fish/config.fish
   nushell	~/.config/nushell/config.nu

2. •

   Check if completion already configured

   • •Read the profile file
   • •Search for existing dotnet completion setup
   • •If found, inform user and ask if they want to replace it
3. •

   Append completion script to profile based on .NET version and shell

4. •

   Inform user to restart their shell or source the profile

Completion Scripts

.NET 10+ (Native Completions)

PowerShell:

dotnet completions script pwsh | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

bash:

eval "$(dotnet completions script bash)"

zsh:

eval "$(dotnet completions script zsh)"

fish:

dotnet completions script fish | source

nushell: See .NET CLI docs for config.nu setup.

Pre-.NET 10 (Dynamic Completions)

PowerShell:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
Register-ArgumentCompleter -Native -CommandName dotnet -ScriptBlock {
    param($wordToComplete, $commandAst, $cursorPosition)
    dotnet complete --position $cursorPosition "$commandAst" | ForEach-Object {
        [System.Management.Automation.CompletionResult]::new($_, $_, 'ParameterValue', $_)
    }
}

bash:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
_dotnet_bash_complete() {
    local cur="${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}"
    local IFS=$'\n'
    local candidates
    read -d '' -ra candidates < <(dotnet complete --position "${COMP_POINT}" "${COMP_LINE}" 2>/dev/null)
    read -d '' -ra COMPREPLY < <(compgen -W "${candidates[*]}" -- "$cur")
}
complete -f -F _dotnet_bash_complete dotnet

zsh:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
_dotnet_zsh_complete() {
    local completions=("$(dotnet complete --position ${CURSOR} "${BUFFER}" 2>/dev/null)")
    reply=("${(ps:\n:)completions}")
}
compctl -K _dotnet_zsh_complete dotnet

fish:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
complete -f -c dotnet -a "(dotnet complete --position (commandline -cp) (commandline -op))"

nushell:

# Add to external_completer in config.nu
let external_completer = {|spans|
    match $spans.0 {
        dotnet => (
            dotnet complete (
                $spans | skip 1 | str join " "
            ) | lines
        )
    }
}

Error Handling

• •If dotnet sdk check fails: Ensure .NET SDK is installed
• •If profile file doesn't exist: Create it with the completion script
• •If profile file is read-only: Warn user and provide script to add manually

Notes

• •.NET 10+ provides native dotnet completions command
• •Pre-.NET 10 uses dotnet complete with dynamic scripts
• •Always back up profile before modifying
• •User must restart shell or source profile for changes to take effect